July 14, 2014 (All-Star break)

Daltry/Lovejoy are back in the lead as we head into the All-Star break… Dan McCloskey’s turn at the top is on hold with would-be AL ERA leader Chris Sale just one inning short of qualification. Clayton Kershaw suffers a similar fate in the NL, currently needing 2/3 of an inning to qualify for the ERA lead.

D/L and Jason Salavon achieved scores of interest over the weekend: both entrants had all five NL pitching categories correct after Saturday’s games (Wainwright IP & W, Kershaw ERA, Strasburg SO, Kimbrel S). The feat wasn’t repeated in today’s update due to Johnny Cueto’s 6 IP in Cincinnati (including an hour of rain delay!) and Kershaw’s aforementioned disqualification.

We’ll check in next Monday after season play resumes.

-Dan and Jud

July 11, 2014

Dan McCloskey is our new leader this week, with Jim Kushner and Jason Salavon in second and third. Daltry/Lovejoy are still in the mix with four points.

Clayton Kershaw and Craig Kimbrel finally joined the NL pitching leaders this week, resulting in our highest update point totals so far. Dan and Jim picked up a valuable AL ERA point courtesy of Chris Sale’s no-decision gem against the Red Sox last night (7.2IP, ER, 6K), while Harvey Hawkins and Amy Gill earned an AL BA bump from Adrian Beltré.

Thanks to Michael Orobona for submitting last week’s trivia question! To view the ten left fielders solution, click comments below.

We’ll send out a quick All-Star break update on Monday…

-Dan and Jud

July 3, 2014

Jason Salavon sneaks into the lead in update #10 and relegates longtime incumbents Daltry/Lovejoy to second place. D/L and seven other entrants lost a point yesterday when Fernando Rodney assumed the AL saves lead over KC’s Greg Holland. Predictions Pool co-founder Dan McCloskey makes his top-three update debut in third.

We haven’t pushed the baseball trivia this year due to a perceived lack of interest, but here’s an original question submitted by one of our very own entrants:

The New York Yankees have won ten World Series Championships in the last 55 years, twice as many as any other club. When the final out was made in each of these series, the Yankees have had ten different men playing left field. How many of them can you name?

You can email answers in a reply to Jud, leave a comment here (spoiler alert!), or just wait until the next update for the full ten player solution.

Have a great holiday weekend!

-Dan and Jud

June 28, 2014

Daltry/Lovejoy remain on top in week nine, followed by Jason Salavon and Jim Kushner. We won’t see much change at the top as long as Troy Tulowitzki hovers above .350, which he’s been doing for the entire month of June.

Charlie Morton is beaning batters at a potentially historic rate. The highest recorded HBP total for a pitcher chosen in our pool is 19 by A.J. Burnett in 2010, which four entrants collected; Morton already has 15 at the halfway point this year. The last major league pitcher to hit more than 25 batters in a season was Jack Warhop, who hit 26 in 1909 with the New York Highlanders.

Enjoy the weekend…

-Dan and Jud

June 20, 2014

It’s eight weeks at the top for Daltry/Lovejoy, with Jason Salavon and Jim Kushner swapping their 2-3 positions from last week. Adam Wainwright’s missed start (elbow) and a superb losing effort by Felix Hernández (7IP, 3H, ER, 10K) account for the slight movement within our leaderboard.

Clayton Kershaw’s astounding no-hitter on Wednesday probably made a few of us scratch our heads and wonder, “Wow, could he actually win a category after missing the entire month of April?” The Dodger lefty is only three wins behind current leader Alfredo Simón, trails Strasburg by 27 Ks, and would place around seventh in ERA if he qualified… Keep scratching and we’ll revisit this one from time to time.

Summer!!!

-Dan and Jud

June 12, 2014

Daltry/Lovejoy log their seventh consecutive week atop the leaderboard, with Jim Kushner and Jason Salavon sitting second and third. Jim and Jason have each finished either second or third in five updates this year.

Kushner and Salavon might look to the NL RBI category for help, where Paul Goldschmidt is just 5 RBI behind leader Giancarlo Stanton. Another resource is the tight AL BA race, with Miguel Cabrera (and two other players) within 6 points of Robinson Cano. The rest of us should pay attention too! Sixteen entrants picked Goldschmidt and/or Miggy in the aforementioned categories. Speaking of popular picks, Yu Darvish is making up for lost time in AL strikeouts (30 Ks over his last three starts)…

See you next week!

-Dan and Jud

June 7, 2014

June looks a lot like May with Daltry/Lovejoy still on top of the 2014 MLB Predictions Pool. Jason Salavon and Jim Kushner take second and third, with both entrants topping Dalt/Love in HBPs. Frank Gatland makes his top 5 update debut right below Dan McCloskey…

After last Sunday’s action, it appeared that Yasiel Puig would indeed overtake Troy Tulowitzki in the crucial NL BA race we highlighted in last week’s update. The Dodger slugger was within just three points of Tulo’s MLB-best .350 average on Monday morning; since then, Daltry/Lovejoy’s prized shortstop has gone 8-for-18 versus Puig’s 3-for-15. The two players go head-to-head this weekend at Coors Field.

See you next week!

-Dan and Jud